The Western Condition - St Antony's College - University of Oxford

The Western Condition: Turkey, the US and the EU in the New Middle East
“the debate over the borders of the Union is finally over. The Turkish problem of the 2000s no
longer exists. Neither the Turks nor the Europeans want to be associated with each other.” 167
Thankfully, there are still prominent players on both sides that continue to resist these exclusionary
views and advocate for Turkish accession to the EU. 168 Indeed, Turks and Europeans simply
cannot cease to be associated with each other. They are not only entangled by the institutional
commitments made over the years to Turkey’s European integration dating back to the 1950s,
regardless of the fact that this process has been stationary during the past recent past, but also
bound by their geographic proximity, existing demographic bonds and extensive economic
connections. The politics of proximity is not only geographic but historical, cultural, institutional,
demographical and economic. Efforts to draw mental or physical boundaries between the two,
such as maintaining a strict visa regime to restrict the movement of Turkish citizens in Europe or
constructing a fence on the Greek – Turkish border to curb illegal immigration from third
countries, will not change the fact that Turkey, a fast developing country of more than 70 million
mostly Muslim people, has long been a European actor and that it has a growing – not diminishing
– relevance to the EU’s internal debates, even without being a member state. Given their
interconnectedness, just as Turkey cannot avoid being affected by Europe’s social and economic
crises, it is also no longer possible for Europe to remain immune to the destabilising effects of a
Turkey that is not only on a faster growth trajectory than to the 1990s, but also risks being
engulfed in socio-political conflicts at home and abroad. In short, Lamassoure’s Turkish ‘problem’
has gained in urgency and cannot simply be relegated to the periphery.
The fundamental fact is this: far from being mired in the problems of their separate geopolitical
spheres, Turkey and the EU are cohabitants and major actors in a common neighbourhood
stretching from the Maghreb to the Mashreq and up to the Black Sea. The EU and Turkey can
become competitors in this common neighbourhood, but they both have a lot to lose from the
continued instability, increasing securitisation and growing focus on ‘hard power’ dynamics in
their shared backyard. Consequently, while Judt is correct to assert that the “American strategy
of confrontation” is not an option for Europe vis-à-vis Turkey or the rest of the Middle East,
nor is pretending that these places no longer matter to the EU (indeed, the Obama
administration is itself revisiting the tenets of this strategies). By the same token, deepening its
ties with the Middle East can complement Turkey’s European engagement, but it cannot replace
it. A renewed EU – Turkish cooperation, in other words, is not a matter of choice for the two
sides; it is a matter of necessity.
167 Interview with Alain Lamassoure, ‘Prix Nobel de la paix : "Un formidable message d'espoir pour le monde"’,
Journal de Dimanche, 12 October 2012.
168 See for instance the regular reports of the Independent Commission on Turkey; Emma Bonito, Howard Dean
and Ana Palacio, ‘The West’s choice’, Hurriyet Daily News, 22 December 2011; 16 EU foreign ministers, ‘The EU and
Turkey: Stronger together’, Euobserver, 28 June 2012, http://euobserver.com/opinion/116780; See also “Project
Europe 2030: Reflection Group report,” European Council, March 2010.
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